I want use LAPACK to calculate Q * x and Q^T * x, where Q comes from the reduced QR factorization of an m by n matrix A (m > n), stored in the form of Householder reflectors and a vector tau, as obtained from DGEQRF and x is a vector of length n in the case of Q * x and length m in the case of Q^T * x.
The documentation of DORMQR states that x is overwritten with the result, which already confuses me, since x and Q * x obviuosly have different dimensions if the original matrix A and subsequently its reduced Q are not square. Furthermore it states that
"Q is of order M if SIDE = 'L' and of order N if SIDE = 'R'."
In my case, only the first half applies and M refers to the length of x. What do they mean by order? I have rarely ever heard the term "order" in the context of non-square matrices, and if so, it would be something like m by n, and not just a single number. Do they mean rank?
Can I even use DORMQR to calculate both Q * x and Q^T * x for a non-square Q, or is it not designed for this? Do I need to pad x with zeros?
DORMQR applies only to Q a square matrix. Although the input A to the procedure relates to elementary reflectors, such as output of DGEQRF which can be more general, the documentation has the additional restriction that Q "is a real orthogonal matrix".
Of course, to be orthogonal, Q must be square.